Got a Chip account? You may win a vacation on a SUPERYACHT as financial savings app opens spring prize draw

Savings app Chip is offering its customers a chance to win a seven-night Mediterranean trip on a super yacht, worth up to £270,000. 

Customers are in for a chance to win the prizes if they hold £1,000 or more across any of Chips’s eligible accounts between 1 April to 31 May.

These are the prize savings account, Chip cash Isa, Smart cash Isa, stocks and shares Isa, general investment account, instant access account and easy access saver. 

The draw will take place on 3 June and customers will get two entries for every £1,000 they have in the Prize Savings Account, and one entry for every £1,000 they hold in Chip’s other accounts. 

If you win the grand prize, you will spend a week on the 52-metre super yacht, the Akira One. 

It boasts space for eight guests with six cabins complete with a hot tub. 

Chip says it will cover the cost of the charter including the crew and the fuel as well as food and drink up to €75,000. 

If you don’t fancy the superyacht holiday, you can opt for £200,000 to put towards a mortgage or a new home, or a payment of £10,000 a month for a year instead. 

Smaller prizes include the chance to win ten £10,000 Flightgift vouchers that can be used on airlines all around the world. 

How do you enter the draw? 

You don’t have to do anything to enter as all customers meeting the requirements are put in the draw automatically. 

You cannot combine balances across the Prize Savings Account with the other accounts to reach the £1,000 minimum. 

You will gain an entry for every day you hold the money in the account until the end of May. 

Is it worth putting money in Chip for a chance to win? 

When signing up to any savings account, it is important to be aware of the interest rate it pays. To stop the value of  your cash being eaten away by inflation, you will want a rate which beats the current inflation rate of 3 per cent. 

Chip’s prize savings account doesn’t pay interest, instead entering savers into a monthly prize draw where they can win up to £10,000, with occasional bigger prizes. It recently ran a quarterly ‘big draw’ where £250,000 was on offer. 

Chip only offers 3.55 per cent on its cash Isa – putting it at close to the bottom of the pile when compared to other offers on the market.     

The rate it offers on its easy access Isas are also significantly worse than other offerings, but customers do have the chance to win large prizes.

Chip’s easy access account pays 3.81 per cent for the first 12 months, which beats inflation but is lower than easy access best buys which can reach 5 per cent.  

It only offers 3.55 per cent on its cash Isa, compared to best buys around 4.6 per cent. 

Savings expert James Blower says: ‘Chip pays competitive rates but is a long way off the best rates. Therefore it is difficult to say that they are worth choosing over others.

‘However, as the products are easy access there’s nothing wrong with going in the short term for a few weeks to participate and then move away. And for existing Chip savers, they may want to top up to maximise their chances.’ 

If you like free draws, there is no harm in having some money in a Chip account – but it is a good idea to balance this with earning a competitive rate on some of your money, too. 

Savings expert Andrew Hagger of Money Comms says: ‘It’s a bit of a different marketing strategy from Chip – rather than focusing simply on the competitiveness of the rate.

‘Chip is trying to raise their profile and appeal to those who like free draws – it will certainly generate them some coverage and some traction on social media.

‘For the consumer it’s important not to take your eye off the rate you’re being offered otherwise the free promotional draws could come at a cost.’

How does it compare to Premium Bonds? 

The most well-known prize savings account in Britain is NS&I’s Premium Bonds, which pays prizes up to £1million.

Savers who are happy to forego interest for the excitement of the draw might consider putting some money in Chip, too. 

However, unlike NS&I Chip doesn’t publish a prize fund rate like Premium Bonds, which gives you an indication of how likely the ‘average’ saver is to win a prize. 

The Premium Bonds prize fund rate at the minute is 3.3 per cent. 

Savings expert James Blower says: ‘This lack of transparency and the fact Premium Bonds pays much larger prizes probably makes Premium Bonds more attractive for those looking to win life-changing sums.’